


An Almost First Date

by IJWtE_MW



Series: Dog Walker AU [2]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Food Poisoning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, he has what one would call a bad time, poor Geno suffers in this, soft couch cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25924558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IJWtE_MW/pseuds/IJWtE_MW
Summary: Geno and Sidney haven't actually had a first date yet, and when they get the chance, Geno's day gets worse before it gets better.This is quickly written and only briefly looked over, so I apologize for typos or poorly constructed sentences.
Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin
Series: Dog Walker AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1676662
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	An Almost First Date

Their first date is almost tragically bad. Geno imagines he’s in a movie as it happens, because in what other universe except one taking place on film would so many almost comically bad things in confluence.

It takes them nearly a month to make it happen. Sidney has playoffs, and spring is--for some reason--the time of year when people start getting dogs en mass so they’re both stupid busy.

They talk on the phone when they can. They text back and forth throughout the day, and have a few actual phone conversations, but they can never seem to get their schedules to match up for any meaningful time together in person.

The day of the date starts poorly. Geno’s phone charger had apparently died in the night and had taken his phone’s battery charge with it, so his alarm hadn’t gone off. He was two hours late two work, because he’d had to stop at an electronics store to get a replacement charger.

He’d apologized profusely to Angela, but she’d said it was no big deal. She’d looked a little wild-eyed from dealing with pretentious and asshole customers though, so Geno had given her a two hour lunch.

Geno doesn’t know how it happened, but he gets food poisoning at lunch. It’s a place he goes to quite often, and he’s never had any problems with them before, but about a half hour after he eats his lunch it’s making a disgusting return in the employee bathroom.

Angela tries to convince him to go home early, but he refuses to do that to her. She has her own schedule and her own life outside of work, and he refuses to let her take on extra hours when she’s already had a hectic day thanks to him. He sends her home on time, and makes it through most of the last few hours feeling gross and kinda sweaty and nauseous enough that moving too fast makes him gag.

He closes up a whole hour early after he gives all the animals their food and ensures their environments are clean and any bathroom breaks have been taken care of.

He takes some pepto and takes a nap when he gets home, because he still feels tragically awful. He feels better enough when his alarm goes off that he feels perfectly fine not informing Sidney of his early mishap and continuing on a date he’s pretty desperate to actually have happen.

His good slacks don’t fit anymore, is the problem. He hasn’t really gained weight, but he has lost some muscle mass since he doesn’t really work out a lot anymore, and the pants hang off him pathetically. Two of his remaining pairs of slacks smell slightly musty from being left to hang in his closet for who knows how long, and somehow his third pair has a large, dark stain around the crotch.

He goes with the good slacks, and hopes he doesn’t look like a child playing dress up in his dad’s clothes.

And when he goes for a button up, he realizes that he’s got two clean ones, having meant to do laundry for the past week and never quite getting to it. His choices are an off-white one with slightly grey pit stains or a pea-green one that he’s sure will make his slightly sick looking complexion even more washed out.

He settles for a baby blue polo and hopes Sidney doesn’t mind that he’s not dressed super formal.

He thanks his lucky stars that his dress shoes are still in good condition and still fit him.

Geno puts on his fanciest watch, and swears when he looks at it. Is it really that late? He checks his phone and swears again, because it is that late. Even with his usual speeding habit, there’s a good chance he’s going to be late.

He sends a text to Sidney letting him know, then jumps in his car. And gets pulled over for doing ten over. He tries to sweet talk his way out of a ticket, or at least get the man to write faster than his mother types, but by the time he gets to the restaurant he’s a full half hour late.

He has five glorious minutes of peace and quiet. The waitress kindly leads him to a semi-isolated table in the back. Sidney looks bored and a little put out in the moment before he lifts his eyes and sees Geno approaching, and then his face lights up and Geno can forgive the frankly awful beard when it surrounds a smile that beautiful and sweet.

He gives Geno an appreciative up and down look, and Geno preens.

Sidney stands as he approaches and pulls him into a hug, which Geno returns happily. He just wants to stand there in the arms of this wonderful man and never leave, but they’re in public and the waitress is still standing close by--presumably to get Geno’s drink order--so the hug is just shy of perfunctory and then they’re both sitting.

Geno gets water, and then they’re left alone. Geno finds what he wants, and when he looks up Sidney is watching him with a soft smile on his face. Geno reaches a hesitant hand across the table to him and Sidney takes it and laces their fingers. It makes Geno’s chest feel fit to burst with happiness.

And then someone passes the table with a tray of plates full of steaming food. The smell of food wafts over to their table and Geno can feel himself go green as he breaks out in a light sweat.

“Be right back,” Geno says, and nearly jumps to his feet. He walks as fast as he can without seeming frantic to the nearest bathroom, then locks himself in the first open stall to dry heave until he pukes bile.

At this point he can tell that he’s sweated through his shirt and his hair is soaked. He’s sure the only color in his face right now is grey.

He must be in the bathroom for longer than he thinks because he hears someone enter the bathroom and then a tentative, “Geno?”

Geno groans, partly because he feels like shit, and partly because he can’t believe he’s ruined their first and long awaited date because he ate some bad chicken. He kind of wants to curl into a ball and die.

“Yeah, Sid,” Geno asks from his stall, and he knows he sounds rough. He hears Sidney walk over to his stall, and reaches behind him to undo the latch on the door.

“Oh, buddy,” Sidney says, and then he feels a hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles, “Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling bad?”

“Wanted...” Geno gives a shallow burp-gag, and spits more bile into the toilet, “was so excited for date with you. Knew you were excited too. Didn’t want to disappoint you.”

Sidney is silent for a moment, still rubbing gently at his back.

“How about,” he said slowly, “you head home--“ Geno groaned in protest. “Hold on, G, let me finish.

“You head home, and get into something comfortable, and I’ll meet you there.”

“No fun when I’m sick,” Geno said sadly.

“Look, whether we go to some big fancy restaurant, or go to a movie, or we stay in and watch Netflix and cuddle on the couch, I just want to spend time with you.”

“Me too.”

Geno stands with help and washes his face with a damp paper towel. Sidney guides him to the front, and apologizes profusely to the waitstaff. And then Geno is deposited into his car with the promise that Sidney will be over soon.

Geno drives carefully home, afraid that if he doesn’t he’ll throw up in his car. He leaves a trail of clothes to his bedroom, then puts on his most comfortable sweats and a t-shirt. He grabs a heat patch from the box in his bathroom because all that heaving has left his back twinging, and then drags his duvet from his bed to his couch.

Sidney shows up twenty minutes later with takeout chicken noodle soup, in beautifully tailored jeans and a soft looking cardigan. Once they’ve both eaten, Sidney lays lengthwise on the couch and pulls Geno until he’s laying mostly on him, practically swaddled in his blanket. Sidney sets an alarm on his phone for the morning, presses play on some boring documentary sure to put Geno to sleep, and then runs his fingers through Geno’s hair.

“Sorry I ruin our date,” Geno says as he begins to drift off.

“This is still good,” Sidney assures him. Geno falls asleep with a small smile on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> I also have a tumblr where I'll post all my writing before it ends up here: ijustwanttoexist.tumblr.com


End file.
